Pungent smell from heating circuit distributor

Good morning everyone,

I would like to introduce myself briefly. We are 33 and 34 years old and have a 2-month-old son. We built with Heinz von Heiden in 2016 in the Rems-Murr district, BW and moved in August 2016. Everything went well during the construction phase, but unfortunately, since yesterday we have a major problem with the heating. Of course, the builder and the heating engineer have already been informed. The latter wants to get in touch with me tonight.

Installed is a Wolf CSZ-2-14/300 gas heating system. The heating system itself was put into operation on April 15, 2016. To my shame, I have to admit that I have not had any maintenance done so far. Only the chimney sweep has been there twice and said everything was fine.

For 2 days now we have had an extremely pungent smell in the utility room (not the basement). My gas detector did not go off, yet the smell kept us restless last night and we called the gas emergency service of the supplier. They came immediately and could not detect any gas leak in the gas system, which was very reassuring.

Next, he noticed the heating circuit distributor of the underfloor heating (ground floor), which is also in the room, and lo and behold, he detected CO (20) from the lower right corner. He cannot tell me where this is coming from either. It is not much, but enough for the whole room to stink strongly. Now of course the master question: where does it come from? I switched on the heating itself via the thermostats. All actuators opened and after I turned them off again via the thermostat, they also closed again. The smell is still there. The heating system itself shows no errors. I have already considered turning it off to see if the smell gets better or disappears completely.

The polite emergency service employee also noticed that the siphons (3 pcs. in the utility room) were all quite empty. He explained it as follows: Because it rained heavily for the last 3 days and the sewer built up a negative pressure, the siphons were practically emptied by suction. That’s probably why there was some odor, but that is not the source. We refilled the siphons and the situation has probably improved a bit. If the door of the utility room and the window are closed, you get a headache after about 15 minutes.

Since I fear a health hazard and we have a baby in the house, I have now called all heating engineers in the area specialized in Wolf, but none have time or interest to take a look. Do you have any other tips for me on what I can do?

Regards

Good morning everyone, I would like to introduce myself briefly. We are 33 and 34 years old and have a 2-month-old son. We built with Heinz von Heiden in 2016 in the Rems-Murr district, BW and moved in August 2016. Everything went well during the construction phase, unfortunately since yesterday we have a bigger problem with the heating. Of course, the developer and the heating engineer have already been informed. The latter wants to contact me this evening. Installed is a Wolf CSZ-2-14/300 gas heating system. The heating system itself was put into operation on 15.04.2016. To my shame, I must admit that I have not had any maintenance done so far. Only the chimney sweep has been there twice and said everything was fine. ....

So, first of all: CO does not stink – CO is an odorless gas, which makes it so insidious. On the topic of the door of the utility room and window closed: is it even allowed? Depending on the system design, the supply air opening may be missing. The question is whether the odor actually comes from the heating system or if something else is off-gassing – after three years without any new influence (e.g. moisture due to leaks) this is probably rather unlikely. Ultimately, as a remote diagnosis, it is hard to come up with anything. A siphon would have been my first tip now as well.

Thank you very much! I was lucky. Today my heating engineer was here. The good news is, neither the heating system, nor the solar system, nor the ventilation system has any problem. The pressure in the underfloor heating is also very good and there is no leak. He has now serviced all three devices.

His suspicion is similar to that of Netze BW. Due to the heavy rain we had, a negative pressure formed in the sewer that drained the siphon. Indeed, these were emptier, but not completely. In the corner of the utility room, the bathroom downpipe from the first floor passes through the ceiling into the floor slab before it is directed into our transfer shaft on the property into the public sewer. If you specifically smell at the bottom of the pipe in the utility room, a very unpleasant odor comes up (it stinks).

My heating engineer suggests just waiting two weeks to see if it improves by flushing the sewers again. What do you think? Wait or hire a sewer cleaner?

Thank you very much
Regards

Update: The smell was significantly stronger this morning than yesterday and definitely comes from the corner of the downpipe. My landscaper who originally installed the inspection chamber and connected the downpipes will come tomorrow and fix everything with a drain cleaner. If this is not successful, I will hire a professional company that also has the ability to inspect the pipes with a camera.

Best regards

Good luck. Hope this is the solution.

Maybe a rotting animal in the wall?